Outlet box support



June 20, 1950 w. H. WAIT EI'AL 2,512,188

OUTLET BOX SUPPORT Filed April 1, 1947 MAL/AM H Wh/l;

ML CI Java/4M IN VEN TORS.

Patented June 20, 1950 'IVVOTFFICE OUTLET BOX SUPPORT William H. Wait and Will Claude Jordan,

Burbank, Calif.

Application April 1, 1947, Serial No. 738,666

The invention relates to an outlet box support and more particularly to an electrical outlet box especially adapted for installation in buildings already completed.

The usual type of outlet box to be installed in a side wall has upper and lower outwardly extending ears or flanges having openings to receive screws which hold the box in the wall opening. This manner of supporting the outlet box in a completed building takes considerable time and is frequently unsatisfactory for the reason that the screws for holding the box in position do not find a sufficient anchor in the plaster or plasterlike material of the front wall.

An object of the invention is to support the outlet box in position without the use of such screws. This is accomplished by providing a spreader clamp for bracing the box in position between the back wall and the front wall of the wall space. The clamp is preferably in the form of an attachment which can be readily mounted in the central knockout opening in the back wall of the box, and the clamp has an operating member such 4 Claims. (Cl. 248.205)

as a single bolt accessible at the front of the box. H

The outwardly extending flanges on the box are clearance between the front of the box and the flanges or ears. According to the invention, no screws are used in the flanges or ears and instead, the flanges face forwardly to bear against the inside of the wall around the front wall opening and serve as thrust members to limit the forward thrust of the box when the clamp is extended. Hence, it is simply necessary to screw in one bolt in order to clamp the outlet box in position, as screws are not used in the flanges or ears. The outlet box and the spreader clamp thus form a strut-like member to brace or support the front and back walls against compression.

For further details of the invention, reference may be made to the drawings wherein Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a conventional type of outlet box in the wall opening of a wall space, the box having a spreader clamp according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the spreader clamp of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end view in elevation of the brace or footpiece of the clamp which thrusts against the back wall.

Referring to the drawings, a conventional outlet box I is illustrated in the opening 2 of the front wall 3 of a wall space having a back wall 5.

The outlet box I is rectangular and has inwar'dly extending upper and lower lugs, not shown, to receive machine screws to hold the receptacle or switch not shown, and the receptacle or switch has threaded apertures to receive bolts to hold a cover on the box as well-known and not illustrated.

When the box I is to be mounted in a building under construction, the usual flanges or ears 6 and l are in the position shown, to leave a space of /8 for the lath and plaster. In that case, screws are inserted through the ears to fasten them to a block behind the ears. According to the present invention, the ears 6 and I are left in the'position shown in Fig. 1, without employing any screws through the ears 6 and 1. According to usual practice, if the box I were to be mounted in an old building, the ears 6 and 7 would be reversed in position to bring them flush with the front of the box and screws would be inserted through such ears to fasten them to the old plaster, which is unsatisfactory as above explained.

The invention provides a spreader clamp 8 to hold the box I in position by bracing it or clamping it in position between the back wall 5 and the inside of the front wall 3. The clamp 8 is in the form of an attachment which is readily mounted in and supported by the usual central circular knockout opening 9 in the rear wall ll] of the box. The clamp 8 is operable from the front of the box.

The clamp 8 comprises a clamp and coupling member I l which is a sheet metal stamping having a central threaded aperture 12 to receive a bolt I3. The body M of the stamping has a plurality here shown as four radially extending and spaced portions such as indicated at E5, each having a greater radius than the radius of opening 9 whereby such portions l5 thrust against the outside of the rear wall Ill around the opening 9. Interspersed with the four radial portions l5 are four lugs bent from the sheet body [4, one of the lugs being indicated at IS. The four lugs like lug [6 comprises a circular array having a diameter to fit the opening 9. The lugs l 6 in being of sheet metal are somewhat spring-like and each thereof has a locking lug [1, the lug I! engaging the rim of hole 9 at the inside of the back wall H) to hold the coupling II in position in the hole 9 and thereby support the clamp 8 on and extending from the rear wall Ill. The head l8 of the bolt I3 is arranged on the same side of the coupling II as the lug [6 so that the bolt head I8 is accessible at the front of the box I. Mounted on the outer end of the bolt I3 is a fitting l9 having a threaded socket 20 to receive the threads on the bolt IS. The outer end of the coupling I9 is tubular as indicated at 211 to receive a, brace or footpiece 22 here shown as a shallow sheet metal cup which serves as a clamp member. The brace 22 has a central aperture 23 to receive the tube 2| and after the brace 22 is mounted on the fitting as shown in Fig. 1, the tube 2| is upset as indicated at 24 to prevent the brace 22 from sliding off from the fitting. The opposite ends of the fitting l9 are larger than the opening 23 and the opening 23 is larger than the intermediate portion 25 of the fitting, to loosely support the brace 22 with respect to the bolt l3 and form a firm foot- 1 ing on the back wall 5.

In the use of the device, the electrical cable, I not shown, is brought through one of the knock- 2. Means for supporting an outlet box between the front and back walls of a wall space and in. an opening in the front wall, said outlet box having a rear wall having an opening, and said outlet box having means engageable with the front wall to resist forward thrust of said outlet box, said first means comprising a coupling fitting in said opening, said coupling having means for mounting the same in said box opening, said coupling having a lateral extension to bear against the outside of said rear wall, a bolt having with a swivel connection and to permit it to tilt threaded engagement with said coupling, said bolt having a head accessible from the front of said coupling at the front of the outlet box, and a brace on the outer end of said bolt engageable with the back wall, said bolt comprising means outs, such as 26, with the box I in front of the front wall 3. :he spreader clamp 8 is mounted on the rear wall In of the box by pushing the lugs 16 of the coupling and clamp member H into the opening 9, the ears 6 and I being in position shown in Fig. l. The box l is tilted at an angle to pass it through the opening 2 and it is adjusted to bring the box somewhat to the position shown in Fig. 1 with the ears 6 and I behind the front wall 3. A screw driver is then applied to the bolt head l8'to screw in the bolt l3, to spread the brace 22 and the coupling and clamp member II until the brace 22. bears against the back wall 5 with lugs thrusting against the rear wall H1 and with the ears 6 and I thrusting against the front wall. The box l is thus held in position by the single bolt l3 without the use of the usual screws in the ears 6 and I. The box I is then wired to a switch or the like as usual. The overall length of the brace 22 to the shoulder on the bolt head I8 is preferably about 1%" and is such that a standard outlet box I and with the usual building wall construction, when the bolt I3 is screwed home, it will only project about or into box I, thereby leaving plenty of room for the switch or receptacle.

Various modifications may be made in the invention without departing from-the spirit of the following claims. For example, bolts or screws such as indicated at l3, of difierent lengths may be used to suit the requirement of outlet boxes of different depth and wall spaces of difierent depth. Also, not all outlet boxes have a central opening as shown in Fig. l but instead has one or more openings at one side of the center, and the clamp of this invention, of course, may be used in any such opening, whether central or otherwise.

We claim:

1. An outlet box support comprising a spreader clamp for strutting the front and back walls of a wall space with said clamp and said box, said clamp having fastening means engageable with t rim of a knock out opening in the rear wall of the box.

for spreading said coupling and said brace apart.

3. An attachment for an outlet box having a circular knockout opening in its rear wall, said attachment comprisinga spreader clamp having a sheet metal member having a bore having threads, said member having on one side thereof a circular array of spaced locking lugs adapted to fit in said openin said member having, interspersed with said lugs, spaced radial portions of greater radius than the radius of said lugs, a bolt in said bore having a head on the same side of said member as said lugs, a fitting having threads for the outer end of said bolt, and a sheet metal brace loosely mounted on said fitting.

4. An attachment of an outlet box having a rear wall having a knock out opening, said attachment comprising a spreader clamp having relatively extensible members to brace against the rear wall of a wall space and thrust the box forwardly, and means for mounting said forwardly thrusting member in said opening, said members having an operating bolt having a head accessible at the front of said box, said mounting means comprising a flange on said forwardly thrusting member'to bearagainstthe outside of the rear wall of the box and cooperating fastening lugs engageable with the rim of said opening, said bolt having threaded engagement with said forwardly thrusting member, and a swivel connection between said other member and said bolt.

WILLIAM H. WAIT. WILL CLAUDE JORDAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of thispa-tent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,453,017 Lindelof Apr. 24, 1923 1,567,863 Sargent et al. Dec. 29, 1925 2,423,757 Dedge July 8, 1947 

